VILLUPURAM: A Dalit man and his Vanniyar wife were banned from entering a village after they got married. Also, the man’s family was asked to pay a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh by the village panchayat and they got signatures of the Dalit family head on a blank papers.
On Monday morning, Mageshwari of Elavadi hamlet near Chinna Salem came to the Villupuram collectorate with her husband Silambarasan and submitted a petition to Collector M Lakshmy seeking protection to enter the village.
In her petition, Mageshwari said she had married Silambarasan of the same village and registered their marriage at Cuddalore sub-registrar office on July 7. After that, she, her husband and his parents came to the village, but they were stopped by her parents, relatives and the village panchayat chief. They refused to permit them inside the village. They also took them to the Elavadi panchayat office and attacked Mageshwari, Silamabarasan and his father Subramanaian from whom they got signatures on white papers. The panchayat chief also asked them to pay Rs 1.25 lakh as penalty.
She added that her parents and the village panchayat threatened them that they will kill the couple and her husband’s parents and told her mother-in-law to register their land in her name.
The Collector promised to take action after inquiry.